Challenger: Go For Launch

1x60'
Discovery Channel, BBC, ITEL

Shuttle Challenger left Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Flight Center. Seventy-three seconds into flight, the Orbiter Challenger exploded, killing all seven of its crew. The cause of the accident was due to the cold-related failure of the aft joint seal in the right Solid Rocket Booster. It was the worst accident in the history of the United States space program and rocked NASA to its core. This film aired in January 2001 -- coinciding with the 15th anniversary of the Challenger tragedy. It is a retrospective - an attempt to put the Challenger STS 51-L Mission into context, to understand what happened on January 28th 1986, to survey the complexity of decision-making and preparation for launch, and to finally close the book on this tragedy as NASA moves forward with its 100th Space Shuttle Mission.